Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

UK Emissions Trading Scheme: Biofuels

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of thefinancial value to the biomass industry of the zero carbon exemption for biomass within the UK's emissions trading scheme (ETS).

Lord Callanan: The current treatment in the UK ETS of carbon emissions from biomass provides continuity for participants. The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and electricity generators receive subsidies only for compliant biomass. The sustainability criteria, amongst other things, take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from collecting, transporting and turning biomass into a viable energy source (for example wood pellets), whether that is in the UK or elsewhere, to ensure that biomass delivers a carbon saving compared to fossil fuels.

Biofuels: Imports

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have madeof the size the overseas carbon footprint is of the cutting down of trees, converting them into wood pellets, and shipping them to the UKto generate electricity for Britain.

Lord Callanan: The UK only supports biomass which complies with strict sustainability criteria, and electricity generators receive subsidies only for compliant biomass. The sustainability criteria, amongst other things, take into account the greenhouse gas emissions from collecting, transporting and turning biomass into a viable energy source (e.g. wood pellets), whether that is in the UK or elsewhere, to ensure that biomass delivers a carbon saving compared to fossil fuels. Generators must report against these criteria under the Renewables Obligation and the Contracts for Difference schemes on a monthly basis to Ofgem.

Department for Education

Pupil Premium

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pupils would havebeen eligible for the pupil premium if the determination of 2021–22 allocations had not been based on the October 2020 school census.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, and if so when, they plan to publish a financial assessment on the impact of basing pupil premium allocations for 2021–22 on the October 2020 school census.

Baroness Berridge: The January 2021 census will be used to determine pupil premium eligibility for alternative provision and pupil referral units for the financial year 2021/22. Pupil premium eligibility for mainstream and special schools will be based on the October 2020 census. We will confirm pupil premium allocations for the financial year 2021/22 in June 2021.The department publishes information on pupil premium allocations and the number of pupils eligible annually. The most recent publicly available figures can be found via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021.Analysts in the department are in the process of calculating the 2021/22 financial year pupil premium funding allocations, as well as the impact of using the October census to determine eligibility. We will publish the impact of the change in pupil premium eligibility in due course, close to when the pupil premium allocations for the 2021/22 financial year are published.Per pupil funding rates will be the same as in the 2020/21 financial year, which is expected to increase pupil premium funding to more than £2.5 billion in 2021/22 as more children have become eligible for free school meals.In addition to the pupil premium, the government announced an additional £1 billion for national tutoring on 2 June, which will see up to 100 million tutoring hours for children and young people across England: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huge-expansion-of-tutoring-in-next-step-of-education-recovery.£218 million of this additional £1 billion will be directed through the government’s National Tutoring Programme. This is on top of the £215 million already planned to be invested in the 2021/22 academic year and will continue to ensure that support reaches disadvantaged pupils, while giving teachers and head teachers the discretion to support the pupils they believe are most in need.The announcement builds on previous investments worth £1.7 billion into a COVID-19 catch up fund for schools since the outbreak began, to directly tackle the impact of lost teaching time and to help with wellbeing and recovery. This includes £302 million for a Recovery Premium building on the pupil premium, which will be targeted towards schools most in need to support disadvantaged pupils’ attainment.

Huddersfield University: Finance

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding the University of Huddersfield has received from the Government for each of the last four years; and for what purposes this funding was provided.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on the finances of higher education providers in the UK.Total income from government sources [1] at the University of Huddersfield in the academic years 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2018/19 is in the attached table. It has been estimated from Table 7, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-7 (income analysed by source), and Table 6, https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances/table-6 (income towards tuition fees), of HESA’s open data: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/finances.Data for the 2019/20 academic year are not yet available for the University of Huddersfield.Data for the 2017/18 academic year are not available, as a breakdown of tuition fees by source of fee has not been collected in 2018/19.Full details of the income categories collected by HESA are available at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/definitions/finances.[1] Identified as income categories where funding comes from government departments or those largely funded by them.HL684 table income to Uni of Huddersfield (xls, 56.0KB)

Assessments: Appeals

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possible number of appeals to Teacher Assessed Grades by (1) A-Level, and (2) GCSE, students this summer; and what steps they have taken to ensure processes and resources are in place to deal with such appeals in a timely manner.

Baroness Berridge: Centres will be expected to allow students to see the evidence used to determine their grade in advance of that grade being submitted. This, along with the internal and external quality assurance processes and the guidance provided to teachers, should ensure students can have confidence in their grades which will reduce the number of instances in which students need to appeal.The Department is unable to estimate the exact number of appeals in advance, we have and will continue to work with awarding bodies to ensure they are prepared to respond to a range of scenarios in dealing with any appeals that arise. A clear process will be in place for students who wish to appeal their grade, and we have also been clear that appeals for those students whose higher education places are dependent on the outcome of an appeal should, as far as possible, be concluded in early September. Further guidance on the appeals process will be published in due course.

Schools: Uniforms

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the proposal by the 'Let Clothes be Clothes' campaign for unisex school uniforms in finalising the statutory guidance on the costs of school uniforms.

Baroness Berridge: It is for the governing body of a school to determine uniform policy. In making decisions about its school uniform policy, and all other school policies, a school must have regard to its obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998, the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. Where a school has different dress codes for male and female pupils, they will need to carefully consider their obligations under equalities legislation not to discriminate unlawfully on the grounds of any protected characteristic. The department publishes guidance to help schools understand how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools. This includes a duty on schools not to discriminate unlawfully due to the protected characteristics of sex and gender reassignment. The department also publishes non-statutory best practice guidance on school uniform which is clear that “in formulating its school uniform policy, a school will need to consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully”: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514978/School_Uniform_Guidance.pdf. For example, it is not expected that the cost of girls’ uniform is significantly more expensive than boys.Under the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act 2021, the forthcoming statutory guidance will be limited in scope to the cost aspects of uniform, but we will continue to make our non-statutory guidance available to schools alongside it.

Music: Higher Education

Lord German: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the gross amount per student paid by the Office for Students to universities for students studying music courses under the CAH25-02-02 code for the 2020–21 academic year; and what is the amount to be paid for the 2021–22 academic year.

Baroness Berridge: The Strategic Priorities Grant, formerly referred to as the Teaching Grant, plays an important role in supporting providers and students to develop the skills and knowledge needed locally, regionally and nationally to support the economy.We have asked the Office for Students (OfS) to reform the Grant for 2021-22. These reforms include the reallocation of high-cost subject funding towards the provision of high-cost subjects that support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost science, technology, and engineering subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs.One of our proposals is for a 50% reduction in the rate of high-cost subject funding, which is one element of the wider Strategic Priorities Grant, for some subjects in order to enable this reprioritisation.Under current proposals, outlined in the OfS’ consultation on recurrent funding for 2021/22, the high-cost subject funding rate for students on music courses (CAH25-02-02) will be set at £121.50 in 2021/22, down from £243 in 2020/21. This fall is equivalent to a reduction of around 1% in combined funding from a £9,250 tuition fee and OfS funding. Music students will also attract other elements of OfS funding, such as funding for student access and success, which is unrelated to the subject they study.The OfS’ methodology for calculating funding allocations, which are done at subject price group-level rather than on an individual subject basis, means that the total amount of high-cost subject funding cannot be calculated for individual subjects such as music. However, illustrative modelling performed by the OfS on funding allocations, which accompanied their consultation, calculated that the total amount of funding for C1.2 subjects, which includes performing arts, creative arts, media studies and archaeology, decreased from £36 million in academic year 2020/21 to £19 million in academic year 2021/22. We have asked the OfS to invest an additional £10 million in our world-leading specialist providers. Many of these specialise in arts provision such as the Royal College of Music or the Royal Academy of Music which are both world-leading institutions for music education. We want to ensure that our specialist providers receive additional support, and that grant funding is used to effectively support students.

Ministry of Justice

Terrorism: Prison Sentences

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many individuals are currently serving custodial sentences for terrorist offences in the United Kingdom; and which prisons are used for confining such persons.

Lord Wolfson of Tredegar: As reported in the latest statistics released on gov.uk, there were 184 persons serving custodial sentences for terrorist offences in Great Britain (as of 31 December 2020). A further 25 were being held on remand, ahead of trial or sentencing. Those in custody are assessed according to their individual risk and rehabilitation needs and are held in various prisons across the estate. We do not disclose operational detail regarding the location of all terrorist offenders in prison. Data detailing the number of people serving custodial sentences for terrorist offences is available at Gov.uk. You can access this information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/operation-of-police-powers-under-the-terrorism-act-2000-quarterly-update-to-december-2020 Northern Ireland Security statistics are available and published by the Northern Ireland Office.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing Associations: Charities

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether regulations designed for large housing associations restrict small charitable housing groups from expanding; and what plans they have to amend the regulations to remove any such restrictions.

Lord Greenhalgh: The Regulator of Social Housing is responsible for the regulation of registered providers of social housing in England.The regulator’s primary focus is on promoting a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver the homes that we need. The regulator’s economic and consumer standards apply to both large (1,000 homes or more) and small (fewer than 1,000 homes) registered providers. It is for individual providers to ensure compliance with the standards and the regulator does not specify how they should do that. The regulator’s publication (attached), Regulating the Standards, outlines its operational approach to assessing compliance with the economic and consumer standards for both large and small providers.Regulating the Standards (pdf, 602.4KB)

Community Housing Fund

Baroness Eaton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Community Housing Fund will be available.

Lord Greenhalgh: Departmental budgets for 2021/22 have been confirmed at the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and £4 million in revenue grant funding has been made available to reopen the Community Housing Fund. We are currently considering how these funds should be most effectively deployed. In addition, organisations that are registered as providers of social housing may seek capital funding from the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme operated outside London by Homes England.The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector offers significant potential for helping to meet housing need across England. In addition to helping increase the rate of delivery of new housing, it will help deliver a range of benefits including diversifying the housebuilding sector, improving design and construction quality, developing modern methods of construction, and sustaining local communities and local economies. The support and close involvement of the local community enables the community-led approach to secure planning permission and deliver housing that could not be brought forward through mainstream development.

Department for Work and Pensions

Industrial Diseases

Lord McKenzie of Luton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any evidence of the relationship between silica or asbestos and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis which has been discovered since the publication on 3 April 2020 of the report by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council Occupational exposure to Silica or asbestos and ANCA-associated vasculitis; and what plans that Council has to review its position in that regard.

Baroness Stedman-Scott: When deciding whether to prescribe new diseases or making any changes to the appropriate prescriptions under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Scheme, Ministers are guided by the recommendations of the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (“IIAC”). IIAC is independent of Government. IIAC continually reviews the emerging literature, but at present nothing has come to light which might indicate the Council should change the views expressed in its Position Paper on occupational exposure to silica or asbestos and ANCA-associated vasculitis published on 3 April 2020. The Council will, of course, maintain a watching brief on this topic and may re-evaluate its position should any substantial evidence become apparent.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

University of Huddersfield: Bahrain

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are monitoring the University of Huddersfield's activities in Bahrain; if so, how; and how they are ensuring that those activities do not contribute to human rights abuses.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are aware of, but do not monitor, the University of Huddersfield's activities in Bahrain.

Aircraft: St Helena

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Vere of Norbiton on25 May (HL48), whether they plan to provide funding for the St Helena Government to charter aircraft in order to improve prospects for the tourism industry on the Island towards the aim of economic self-sufficiency.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK Government has recently confirmed its contribution to the St Helena Government's budget for 2021/22. St Helena Government will provide funding for charter flights that maintain essential access to and from the Island. The UK Government continues to work with the St Helena Government in their efforts to stimulate the economy and encourage tourists to visit the Island in future.

Home Office

Fraud: Internet

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of crime in England is categorised as online fraud; what percentage of policing resource is dedicated to combatting online fraud; and what plans they have to increase the level of police resource allocated to tackling digital crime.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government is aware that fraudsters continue to exploit technology and the internet to commit their crimes. Recent ONS estimates suggest that around 53% of all fraud is online enabled (Crime Survey of England and Wales data covering personal incidents of fraud and not fraud against businesses: Nature of crime: fraud and computer misuse - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). This Government is determined to drive down the number of these frauds and to protect the public from their harm.Decisions on the allocation of funding received by Police Forces are determined at a local level in line with the priorities set by each Police and Crime Commissioner as part of their Police and Crime Plan. The Government continues to fund fraud capability to tackle these crimes. As part of the 2020 Spending Review, the Government committed a further £63m to the Home Office to tackle economic crime, including fraud. This is in addition to the £10m funding that the Home Office commits each year to the City of London Police to run the existing Action Fraud and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau services.However, we will continue to explore all opportunities to go further on fraud and online, digital crime, including through the upcoming Spending Review.

Domestic Abuse: Local Government Services

Lord Pendry: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide additional funding to local authorities for early abuse interventions following increases in domestic violence.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime and we fully recognise the devastating impact it can have on children and young people. That is why the Domestic Abuse Act recognises children as victims if they see, hear or experience the effects of domestic abuse.In the past year the Home Office has provided over £3 million to specialist services for children who have experienced domestic abuse. The local services funded provide interventions such as therapy, counselling and education schemes.The Home Office has also provided funding to roll out Operation Encompass nationally. This innovative scheme facilitates schools and police working together to provide emotional and practical support to children affected by domestic abuse. It currently operates in all 43 police forces across England and Wales, therefore ensuring vital early intervention in all local areas.We are also committing £25 million to tackle perpetrators of domestic abuse. From this, I am pleased to confirm that on Friday 21st May we launched a new Perpetrator Programme Fund for Police and Crime Commissioners to bid into totalling £11.1m. The purpose of this fund is to support the introduction of more perpetrator programmes in local areas. We have specified that one area we are particularly interested in funding is dedicated provision for adolescents who perpetrate abuse in their adolescent relationships. The competition will be live for six weeks, closing on 2nd July.Finally, councils across England have been allocated £125 million funding to provide support for victims of domestic abuse and their children. The money will fund a new duty on councils to ensure victims and their children are able to access life-saving support in safe accommodation – a key part of the government’s landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021.More broadly across Government we are determined to ensure that support is available at an early stage for all victims of domestic abuse. Departments including the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Ministry of Justice are providing funding this financial year for accommodation-based support and wider victim services respectively.

Polling Stations: Police

Lord Rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need to provide a greater police presence at polling stations for different types of elections or votes.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The police assess the needs for security at polling stations in their area and respond accordingly.Planning and oversight of election issues during campaigns is overseen by a NPCC lead and a network of local Electionco-ordinators, who work closely with the candidates and others involved in the process, to ensure the democratic process.